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Thursday, January 3, 2008

Facebook Takes the Cake in T.O.

According to a recent study conducted by ZINC Research, Canadians are flocking to social networking Website Facebook.com in droves. Not only are half of all online Canadians now members of the Facebook community, but Toronto has been awarded the honour of the first North American city to achieve over one-million subscribers to the service! Facebook currently has about seven-million Canadian subscribers in total, which means that Torontonians account for almost 15% of the total number of Canadian members

"2007 is the year that Facebook took Canada by storm," said Brian F. Singh, Managing Director at ZINC Research. "Canadians love the Facebook book platform for its simplicity and ability to connect with and stay in contact with friends and family."

Anecdotal reasons I've heard from fellow Canadians for jumping on the Facebook bandwagon are, indeed, to keep in touch with family and friends in different provinces (or even countries); and to stay in touch with long-lost friends whom they can't often visit in person. However, the site also serves as one of the easiest, and most attractive, photo sharing Websites I've ever used; not to mention the creation and distribution of event invitations. It is also successful at helping "friends" share interests in everything from the latest novels to movie ratings.

But for its recent Beacon advertising platform debacle, Facebook is likely on its way to becoming a very profitable venture; especially with financial backing from large corporations like Microsoft, and an increased focus on online advertising of a more favourable ilk.

"Facebook appears to be bridging the gap with our online and real lives," Singh added.

I'm not sure if I would go so far as to say that, but Facebook certainly adds a new flavour to the way we communicate and interact with one another on a day-to-day basis.

29 comments:

what kind of bullshit is this? Facebook has WAY over 7 million users, and I doubt Toronto is the first city to reach 1 million either. Rediculous. Don't you peopl ehave credibel sources before you post something?

http://mashable.com/2006/09/23/this-week-in-social-networking-youtube-facebook-and-the-myspace-economy/Your source is wrong. Read the above article and check the date on it. Want to re-verify? Google "how many people use facebook" Use any search engine for that matter.

Facebook actually has closer to 60 million people...haha. I'm not sure where you got your numbers from.

"The site has more than 58 million active users (including non-collegiate members) worldwide, with membership expected to surpass 60 million users by the end of 2007." (From Wikipedia as cited from official Facebook, Inc. Media Release.

Canada has the most users outside of the United States, with more than 7 million active users. They mean in that in Canada, Toronto accounts for almost 15%. This is NOT in facebook over the world which is over 59 million users.

Firstly, your all a bunch of idiots. Police and detectives use facebook as tool on a daily basis to search for whomever they wish. Anyone stupid enough spill all their personal information for a bunch of strangers to read and see deserves anything that happens to them. NOBODY cares how many users there are and most of you numbskulls should learn to type.

Looks like the site alludes to 7 million "canadian" facebook users, and not "total" facebook users in general ;)...I would assume that Toronto is the first (canadian) city to hit "1 million" mark in users.

I have to absolutely agree with elie. The numbers are dubious, and unreliable. Toronto has a population of 2.5 million people, thus 40% of Torontoians. No matter how you try to analysis the numbers, Toronto is over represented. It is hard to determine how reliable the residency information on Facebook is, and how it verifies people's address.

whoever is posting those arnt the brightest people, the article says 7 million CANADIAN users, and even the link you posted trying to prove the article wrong explicitly says Canada is the largest outside U.S. source of users with 7 million.

Canada has the most users outside of the United States, with more than 7 million active usersThe U.K. is the third largest country with more than 7 million active usersRemaining top 10 countries in order of active users (outside of the U.S., Canada and UK): Australia, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, France, Hong Kong

There are 7 million users in Canada. From facebook's stats page...: "Canada has the most users outside of the United States, with more than 7 million active users" So 15 percent og Canadian facebook users are from toronto.

Thank you so much for your attempts at trying to clarify the potentially confusing wording in this article. I'd like to take this chance to clarify things for you:

1) Yes, the 7 million number refers to subscribers in CANADA alone, not just the world. I should have been clearer in my wording that all the data refers to Canada alone.

2) Toronto is the first NORTH AMERICAN city to cross the one-million subscriber mark.

3) the "dork" in the photo (assuming you aren't referring to my photo at the extreme right of the page!) is Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and CEO.

I apologize for the delay in clarifying this information. I have not been "ignoring" all the commentary, but rather I'm in Las Vegas for the International CES and working on a tight schedule and 3-hr time delay. Stay tuned for more information from the show!

It is saying London UK has the highest (2million++) then Toronto. In other words we are the biggest idiots in NA, allowing our reality to be shaped by such mediocre influences. So all we are capable of feeling anymore is horny, or irritable, at all the *IDIOTS* making mistakes online. :)